Liberation war commander's body parts missing

Liberation war commander Wilfred Mhanda was buried yesterday with vital body organs missing, family members said.

Taona Mhanda, brother to the deceased, said they only discovered that his body parts were missing when he was taken to a funeral parlour.

Mhanda died of colon cancer on Thursday at the State-run Parirenyatwa Hospital.

Mhanda's liver, kidney and his intestines were missing, according to his family.

"They (hospital officials) are saying that they took the parts for examination, but we did not expect them to take the whole liver and kidney, we only discovered that the parts were taken at the funeral home," the young brother said.

Meanwhile, Zanu-PF flatly refused to confer national hero status on Wilfred Mhanda, the commander of the party's armed wing Zanla during the 70s liberation war against white minority rule.

The ruling party flatly refused to entertain recognition of the distinguished former Zanla commander, whose nom de guerre was Dzinashe Machingura, with the party's top brass ruling out the honour for the ex-war commander who turned into a staunch critic of the ruling Zanu-PF.

Didymus Mutasa, Zanu PF secretary for administration, told the Daily News yesterday that he was unaware of Mhanda's death.

"Who is Wilfred Mhanda? I have not been given that request," Mutasa said.